Tiny terrier saves five Kiwi children from pitbull attack

WELLINGTON (AP) - A plucky foot-high Jack Russell terrier named George saved five New Zealand children from two marauding pitbulls, but was so severely mauled in the fight he had to be destroyed, his owner said Wednesday.

George was playing with the group of children as they returned home from buying sweets at a neighborhood shop in the small North Island town of Manaia last Sunday when the two pitbulls appeared and lunged toward them, his owner Allan Gay said.

"George was brave - he took them on and he's not even a foot high,'' Gay told The Associated Press.

"He jumped in on them, he tried to keep them off.

"If it wasn't for George, those kids would have copped it.'' continuing story